31 Days of Reviews, Day 27: Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Aquacealer Concealer

Hello everyone! Only 4 more days of my review challenge! I may or may not be counting down 👀, but I really have been enjoying myself as well. It’s nice to document my opinions on all of these products that I have tried, and it has been doubly as nice to see whether they are worth it in terms of price, for repurchasing purposes.

Today’s review is on a concealer. I only ever use concealer for my under eyes, and that goes for this one as well. Let’s start this out by saying that I have very dry under eyes, therefore my mission in life is to find a hydrating concealer that has a good amount of coverage as well. I do not have pigmented/dark circles though, so I may not need as much coverage as others. However, I do have fine lines that I do not want concealer creasing out of. Here we go!

Packaging and First Impressions

The packaging of this concealer is very beautiful and luxurious. It comes in a frosted glass bottle with gold detailing and a purple-gold gradient lid. Once you unscrew the lid, there is a large-sized doe-foot applicator. The concealer itself is on the liquidy side. There are 12 shades in this concealer line. I own the shade light neutral, and I think that this is an accurate description of the shade. This concealer has a light, typical makeup scent to it.

This is the concealer in the shade light neutral, swatched in natural light.Here are all of the shades displayed on the Sephora website. I’m not sure how it’s possible, but Sephora offers one more shade than the Tarte website does??? What???Here are the shades available on the Tarte website

Price and Quantity

This concealer is priced at $31 CAD ($26 USD) and has 10 mL (0.34 oz) of product. Some other popular concealers sold at Sephora that are also medium-high end are: the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (Cult classic and super hyped on social media; $37 CAD for 0.22 oz), the NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer ($37 CAD for 0.21 oz), the Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer (I love this concealer; $35 CAD for 0.16 oz), the Kat Von D Lock-it Concealer Creme ($34 for 0.22 oz), the IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Full Coverage Anti-Aging Waterproof Concealer ($32 CAD for 0.28 oz) and the Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer ($40 CAD for 0.5 oz). Lastly, I almost forgot Tarte Shape Tape since it isn’t sold at Sephora! Shape tape is $31 CAD for 0.34 oz, the same specs as the Tarte Aquacealer that I am reviewing here. Here are the comparisons organized from best deal to worst deal:

Rank

Company’s Product Mentioned Above

Cost ($ CAD)

Quantity (oz)

Cost-Quantity Ratio for 1 oz of product

1

Make Up For Ever

$40

0.5

$80/oz

2

Tarte Aquacealer

$31

0.34

$91/oz

3

Tarte Shape Tape

$31

0.34

$91/oz

4

IT Cosmetics

$32

0.28

$114/oz

5

Kat Von D

$34

0.22

$155/oz

6

NARS Radiant

$37

0.22

$168/oz

7

NARS Soft Matte

$37

0.21

$176/oz

8

Urban Decay

$35

0.16

$219/oz

Wow! I am glad to see that the Tarte Aquacealer ranks so high on the affordable list. I also own the Make Up For Ever concealer, and it is good, has great coverage, but I don’t prefer it for my under eyes. This is because it is thicker and does crease a bit more than others on me personally. BUT, goddamnit, the Urban Decay one is insanely overpriced, and I also have bought that one and loved it! I have used up a whole tube of it over the last couple of months, and no wonder, it has almost half of the product that other concealers have. The outrage!

Product performance: Mask imperfections while sealing in radiance and hydration with this buildable, medium coverage concealing serum. It features concentrated levels of pigments suspended in deep conditioning serum made up of 20 percent water to deliver the coverage you desire and the moisture your skin craves. The vegan friendly formula is powered by the proprietary Rainforest of the Sea™ complex that serves as the ultimate defense for skin, helping protect from daily aggressors and premature signs of aging. Apply it directly from the custom applicator wand to mask any redness, dark spots and acne or to brighten the undereye area.”

Tarte is a cruelty free company, and if you didn’t catch it above, this product is vegan 🙂

Pigmentation and Performance

Let’s start out with a bit of a preamble.

What concealer you choose is really going to be dependent on whether you are using it for spot correcting or for your under eye. If you want it for spot correcting, you are going to want a full coverage product, and consistency might not matter quite as much, although thicker/creamier formulas will work fine. However, for your under eye, you are likely going to want a more liquidy concealer that is more hydrating, since most people have dry under eyes. Overall, it will take some trial and error to find the right consistency for you. If you have fine lines, you will have to see what does crease and what doesn’t crease on you. Concealers definitely do not behave the same on everyone when it comes to creasing. Additionally, the amount of coverage you need will also vary whether you have dark circles or not. I do not have dark circles, so medium coverage is fine for me, but that may not be enough for you.

I use this concealer only on my under eyes, and it works great. I always apply it with the doe-foot applicator, and blend it out with a small beauty sponge. I also always set it with a translucent setting powder (I like Laura Mercier best for my under eyes). I’m not sure how it behaves without being set, but I imagine it will crease more. Here are the reasons why I like this concealer:

It absolutely brightens my under eyes. I use the shade light neutral.

Because it is so liquidy, it is pretty hydrating. My under eyes don’t look scaly when I use it. My under eyes DO look scaly when I use the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer. I don’t care what people say about that concealer, it is definitely drying even though it is marketed as “creamy”.

This concealer blends really flawlessly on the boundary of foundation. When you apply your foundation, you leave your under eyes blank for concealer (I do at least, because I don’t want to apply too much product under there and worsen creasing and dryness. But not everyone does). However, when you apply your concealer, you have to blend it down to the boundary of where you applied your foundation, so that you get a seamless look. Some foundations and concealers just do not play well together and you can get product balling. This concealer has worked well with every foundation I have ever worn, including matte foundations.

The claims of this concealer are accurate, in that it has medium coverage. Honestly, it looks full to me, but I don’t have a lot to cover up under my eyes. If I had dark circles, then it would maybe be easier to tell how effective the pigmentation is.

The claim that it is lightweight is also accurate. Because it is so liquidy and watery, it feels so light, however it still does a good job of covering imperfections.

You don’t need to use a ton of product, it spreads out pretty nicely. What I do is dot it in a triangle shape under my eye with the tip of the doe-foot applicator (I scrape off excess concealer first back into the bottle). I will then blend that out with a small makeup sponge. Then I will dot a few more spots along the concealer-foundation boundary, just to really made sure it is seamless. I do not paint my whole under eye like Youtubers in makeup tutorials. Dots people, dots!

It barely creases on me. I always get a tiny bit of creasing, and this has creased the least out of all of the concealers that I have tried.

I was going to go on to the cons of this concealer, and then I realized, I have none! It completely suits my needs.

Final Thoughts

I really like this concealer and I don’t foresee myself switching permanently to any others any time soon. I had been using the Urban Decay Naked Skin concealer for the last little while because I had that one in a darker shade, so it matched my summer tan. However, I would say that it performs just as well as the Tarte Aquacealer. And from the price comparisons above, you can see that the Tarte concealer has more than double the value! AHHHHhhhh. I learn more and more every day that I need to do these comparisons before hand. Anyways, I hope I have saved you from my mi$take$.

ALSO, I mentioned earlier that I also own the MUFE Full Cover Concealer. If you are looking for a spot correcting concealer, this is the one. It has amazing coverage and is waterproof! I like to use it to spot correct before I apply my foundation, if I am using a foundation that has less coverage. Because it is waterproof, it shouldn’t move around with foundation application. It’s also the best deal of the concealers listed above, so give it a try if you are in the market for a new one.

I must also mention shape tape briefly, since it seems to be everyone’s favourite. I am not a believer. It creased quite badly on me and I tried multiple application techniques. I’m sure it’s great for spot concealing, but meh. Everyone is different 🙂

Have you tried any of these concealers? What do you think?

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Originator of SUPERNOVABEAUTY. In order to escape the 9-5 life of a graduate student slave, I have devoted myself deeply to beauty products. I am very passionate about trying the latest and the greatest and can definitely say that I am an addict. At all hours of the day you can find me watching beauty tutorials and reviews by some of youtube's most influential, such as Tati, Kathleenlights, Roxette Arisa, jeffreestar and JAMbeauty89.